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Savannah City Manager supporters gather to organize

Corey Dickstein/Savannah Morning News Alicia Blakely, president of the Savannah Chapter of the National Action Network, speaks Thursday evening in support of Savannah City Manager Rochell Small-Toney during a meeting of her supporters at Litway Missionary Baptist Church in Thunderbolt.

More than 40 supporters of the city manager, who was asked for her resignation this week by Mayor Edna Jackson, met at the Litway Missionary Baptist Church to discuss a plan to organize, said the Rev. Leonard Small.

“We still to this moment have no idea as to why the city manager is being asked for her resignation, and apparently six of our elected officials have chosen to vote her out of her position,” Small said of a public vote for Small-Toney’s dismissal that will be held during Thursday’s City Council meeting if necessary. “We know that it was a very, very contentious fight to have her placed in office, in the executive position for the city of Savannah... And we do not believe that she was given a reasonable opportunity to do what she was hired to do.”

Small-Toney did not attend the meeting.

The reverend blamed news reports, the chamber of commerce and other influences for “forcing” Jackson into asking for Small-Toney’s resignation for “nitpicking” reasons.

“We believe that the newspaper is forcing our city leaders into this action,” he said. “(City leaders are) embarrassed by the publicity and they’re overreacting to it.”

Many in the crowd acknowledged Small-Toney had made mistakes.

“I don’t agree with everything that the city manager has done,” said Alicia Blakely, president of the Savannah Chapter of the National Action Network. “I don’t agree with her management style ... But she does not need to be gone.”

Others said they would not continue supporting the mayor because of her decision.

“I worked hard for her because I thought she was the right person,” Francis Bright Johnson said of Jackson. “But let me tell you tonight, Francis Bright Johnson is going to work hard to get her out of office.”

Ultimately, Small said, the group wants to see Savannah’s first black city manager get a chance to improve her performance.

“This is not stopping Rochelle,” the reverend said. “If she was not a strong black woman she would have quit ... But Rochelle Small-Toney stood up and she’s still standing, and we’re here to organize and strategize for what is right.”